‘Military sketches’ found on USB of arrested Greek soldiers: Turkey’s Anadolu Agency

EDİRNE

Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency reported that “military sketches” were found on a USB carried by two Greek soldiers who crossed the border into Turkish territory on March 2. 

Two phones that belong to Lt. Aggelos Mitretodis and Sgt. Dimitros Kouklatzis, along with a cryptophone and a USB found on them, have been submitted for examination, Anadolu Agency reported on March 22.

A number of “military sketches” have reportedly been found on the USB in the preliminary examination.

The pair was arrested on March 2 for entering a military zone in the northwestern Turkish border province of Edirne and they have been waiting for their case to be heard ever since.

The court in Edirne has ordered the pair to be charged with “attempted military espionage” and “entering forbidden military territory.”

The Greek army has stated that the two soldiers lost their way in poor weather while patrolling the area around the Meriç (Evros) river that separates the two countries.

This incident comes amid an ongoing row between the two neighbors over the extradition of a soldier. On Jan. 23, the Greek justice minister said Greece would not extradite eight Turkish soldiers who fled there after the failed 2016 coup attempt, though an offer to try them in Athens has been left open.